Partners

JAKOB GROSEN

Through education as well as through professional experience, Jakob has specialised as a deve­lopment economist with special emphasis on sector planning and project analysis and evaluations within the natural resources sectors and the environment, and private sector development including SME development and rural and micro finance. Professional experience includes project and sector programme planning/design and moni­toring in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, macro-economic studies and studies related to Structural Adjustment Programmes, and private sector and SME development. Jakob has participated in or led a number project, country programme, thematic and corporate evaluations and facilitated preparation and design of numerous projects and sector programmes. He has project management experience from several project director positions and from long-term assignments in Nepal, Tanzania and Costa Rica. Jakob has obtained general management experience through serving in the Danish civil service and as a director of Carl Bro Management and a non-executive director of Oxford Policy Management Ltd.

James Joughin

James Joughin has over 30 years’ experience covering all aspects of natural resources-based policies and projects (agribusiness, agriculture, environment, rural development, financial services, climate change) as well as social and institutional issues (poverty reduction, livelihoods, participation, policy reform, evaluation). He has some nine years residential experience working for developing country governments and has also undertaken consultancy assignments in over 20 countries, many as Team Leader. He has worked for both public and private sector clients. He is one of six partners in the successful consultancy business, Development Associates, Copenhagen. James started his career as a Fellow of the Overseas Development Institute, posted in St Vincent, West Indies. He then spent 5 years with the Tropical Products Institute of ODA (later NRI), with numerous consultancy as­signments. Between 1984 and 1988 he was Principal Agricul­tural Econom­ist with the Ministry of Agricul­ture in Papua New Guinea. On returning to Europe in 1988, he was Divisional Director/Chief Economist at Cargill Technical Services. In 1993 he began working with Development Associates in Copenhagen and, in 1999, he became a partner there.He has considerable experience of East Africa and in 2010 concluded more than three years as Senior Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries and Fisheries, Uganda. His current areas of interest are institutional and policy reform, political economy, private sector development and evaluation.

Carola Baran

Throughout her professional career, Carola Baran has specialised in private sector development. She has worked in the capacity as external consultant on DANIDA and UN (IFAD) projects and programmes being involved in programme and project reviews, appraisals, evaluations, project proposal screenings, feasibility studies including budgeting, market studies, strategy development, and programme formulations. Geographically Carola has experience from Southern & Eastern Africa, Europe, as well as the Caucasus region. Within private sector programmes Carola has worked with SME and entrepreneurship development including access to markets and access to finance.Besides her expertise with development programmes and projects Carola has other key competence area is in business development; market analysis/business intelligence; trade and investment promotion, as well as strategy planning and implementation. As for export and investment promotion Carola has experience in comparative analysis of economic conditions in various regions/countries, sector analyses and reviews, and export incentive programmes. Amongst other assignments she has been a team leader of trade promotion business delegations to Denmark, United Arab Emirates, and Sultanate of Oman.